CD of The Week

Reporters, journalists, and fans have been asking Noel Gallagher for ages now, “When are you going to record a solo album?” Well, that time has finally arrived. After splitting from Oasis back in 2009, Noel has concentrated on a solo career, and his self titled Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds is the result. (For the record, there are no “high flying birds”. Noel recorded almost the entire record himself.) Proving that he was the true brains behind Oasis, the record is well worth the wait, and Noel sounds as good as ever!

The album starts off with the fantastic “Everybody’s On the Run”. In true Noel fashion, he belts out the lyrics with passion, being backed by his acoustic guitar, a lovely string ensemble, and drums that sound like they’ve been ripped from Definitely Maybe. From there, it’s just one great song after another. Noel dabbles in familiar territory (”Dream On” reminds me of “Mucky Fingers” from Oasis’ 2005 record Don’t Believe the Truth, for instance), but goes to new places as well. “AKA…What a Life” is heavy with fast piano, which sounds a little different, but still very much like something Noel would do. Probably the best track on the record can be found only on the deluxe version. “A Simple Game of Genius”, a song that Noel accidentally leaked while sound checking in Hong Kong back in 2009, gets a lot of comparisons to "Champagne Supernova," and rightfully so. It has that same soothing melody, and even clocks in at about the same time, 7 minutes and 19 seconds.

Noel Gallagher is showing once again that he is, and always will be, the real deal. This record is overall great, and a definite a must listen for all Oasis fans. The news gets even better, as Noel has already announced that his second record is already recorded, and will be out in the summer of 2012. In the meantime, enjoy this one, as it’s one of his best bodies of work in quite some time.

Catch Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds kicking off their U.S. tour this Friday at The Academy of Musicin Philadelphia.